The laws are a joke...

Until you suddenly have to register as a sex offender for the rest of your life:

(thanks to jajy1979 for the link)

Police Raid Lingerie Shop

LUBBOCK, TX -- An obscure law sends one local lingerie store clerk to jail. And now she may forever have to register as a sex offender.
The lingerie store, Somethin’ Sexy was raided by police last week for violating Lubbock`s sexually oriented business ordinance.

"I feel like I`m in 1690 Salem, Massachusetts and we`re looking for a witch to burn" says the store’s owner.

The witch: the owner of Somethin’ Sexy. He`s speaking out about the raid of his shop and the arrest of his employee. Now, if convicted, the clerk will have to register as a sex offender.

"I think it`s ridiculous. She`s not a sex offender, she was selling something that I had instructed them it was ok to sell, I think it`s ridiculous" he says.

Earlier this month, four officers raided the shop, confiscating several toys deemed to be illegal by the Texas penal code. The code states "a person who possesses six or more obscene devices is presumed to possess them with intent to promote the same." In other words, intent to sell.

But if this is a state law, how do other Texas cities match up?

"We went to several places in Dallas where the merchandise that was deemed obscene here they have in open view on the shelves. Lubbock seems to be taking the most hard line approach that we`ve seen anywhere in Texas" says the owner.

He says not only did he keep the devices out of view, but he says there`s a huge demand for these products.

"We kept it in a closed cabinet, we did not promote it. If someone asked, then we showed them the merchandise. Our guest book, we`ve had over 1500 people sign up to receive emails and mail outs" he says.

The store is still open and the owner says he’s playing by the rules.

"We`ll sell everything that`s legal" he says.

The Lubbock Assistant District Attorney couldn`t speak specifically about this case, but did speak to us in general about obscenity laws and what the definition of obscene is in Lubbock.

"If they tell them this is a candle put in on the birthday cake this is a novelty if they tell you to use it to enjoy sexual gratification, its no longer a candle on the birthday cake" says Assistant D.A. John Grace.

What’s illegal and what’s not when it comes to sexual devices comes down to marketing and intentions.

"If the seller is selling it as a novelty and the buyer is buying it as a novelty to make fun of, then it probably has not reached the level of an obscenity" says Grace.

According to state law, it’s illegal to sell obscene devices with the intention of sexual gratification. But what is an obscene device and who`s going to be the judge of that?

"What’s considered obscene in LA is different than Lubbock and different than Des Moines. The community ultimately decides what is obscene" says Grace.

He says obscenity laws have been on the books as long as they`ve had books as a way of protecting the community from what he calls the secondary effects of obscenity which are child pornography, money laundering and prostitution.

He says it’s not the D.A.’s job to decide whether a law is fair or not but it is their job to enforce it. And if the citizens have a problem with that, it’s their job to take it to the Texas legislature.

"As a voter and a taxpayer, if you think the law is not fair, that’s what democracy is all about. Go talk to your congressman and see if you can get the law changed" says Grace.

She made it!

We haven't carried her up or down the steps since yesterday morning! Bec called me yesterday afternoon to let me know Tarma had made it both ways on the steps when she let her out, and when I came home she kept it up. So far, she's doing great on her own, even when it's dark out. Go, Tarma! (and hooray for our poor backs!)

And in other excellent news for yesterday...

Last night I had some of the best patient-instructing students I've had in ages. This was especially thrilling after the night before, when I had a student who managed to be simultaneously incredibly timid and unsure of herself, and yet also argumentative. Good grief -- pick an issue, and I'll deal with it, but that's one hell of a combo.

She was so frustrating; every few minutes she had to argue about how what we were doing was different than what she'd seen in clinic (where they're doing the fastest, most bare-bones exams they can to take care of the necessities), and I'd have to explain again about how we're teaching the full ideal exam, blah, blah. *headdesk* And really, just don't fucking argue with me about whether you're going to remove that speculum from my body, with which I've been teaching for seven friggin' years, in the manner in which I instruct you. *double headdesk* And she had nails, which we didn't catch on her way in because she was late, so I had to have her stuff her glove tips with cottonballs so as not to get scraped. Argh!

But the students last night were the absolute polar opposite, and both were excellent in the same ways, which suggests to me the program that's teaching them is doing things right (they're from a different group than the girl from night before). Although there was still fine-tuning I could do, especially on some of the physical details of the full pelvic that don't get practiced all that often in day-to-day life, their patient interaction skills were so off-the-chart that Steph asked me if I was kidding when she saw their evaluation forms. It was just one of those awesome, rewarding, fun sessions that leave me in an "I rock, they rock, we all rock" kind of mood.

We're also looking for more patient-instructors, so if you're in the Cleveland area, or know someone who is and might be interested in exploring the possibility, please email me at sarah.whitman.young at gmail. Pay is $20/hr, we work weekday evenings, 6pm-7:30pm, M-Th. Most people work one or two sessions a week, and you schedule for when you're available -- it's very flexible that way. We don't expect that everyone who checks out the program will decide it's for them, but if you're interested, you can come in and see what we do, and get a better sense of whether it's something you'd want to pursue. If you have any further questions before you officially express interest to the woman who runs our program, you're also welcome to email me with those.

We're also looking for male instructors for the GU exam. Same pay, but the sessions are 7:30pm-9pm instead.

As those of you who've been following my journal for a while likely already know, I'm absolutely passionate about this program, and what a difference I feel it makes in the kind of care future patients receive from these future healthcare providers. We're always just on the edge of not having enough instructors to keep it going, though. If you think it's something you'd be interested in, please do contact us.